Pained To Hear That The Firecracker Ban Decision Is Being Given Communal Colour: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday expressed that it was "deeply anguished" to see that its ban on the fire crackers during Diwali in Delhi-NCR to control pollution has been given a communal colour. The apex court was referring to the comments calling the decision as "anti-Hindu" by the politicians and others.

The Supreme court said, "We are pained to hear such comments," as it dismissed a plea from fireworks traders to be allowed to sell a limited amount of product on the day of Diwali.

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The SC on Monday banned the sale of fireworks during Diwali in the Delhi-NCR region. It also ordered that a relevant agency compute the impact of a noise-and smoke-free festival this year.

The SC reiterated today that its ban order was only for this year's Diwali. The exercise, it added, is to be an experiment to see how a Diwali without firecrackers affects the pollution levels in the Capital and its environs.

The top court further said it refuses to take cognisance of political leaders' statements against its ban order and added that the issue should not be politicised or communalised.

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A day after the ban, Tripura's governor Tathagata Roy tweeted that he believes the order on fireworks was influenced by those artists and writers who last year returned their State awards to protest what they called "rising intolerance".

"First, they targeted the 'Dahi handi' custom, now its fireworks, perhaps tomorrow the 'award wapsi gang' will use environmental pollution as an excuse to call for an end to Hindus cremating their dead," Roy tweeted.